The Unstoppable Wasp by Sam Maggs is a slow burn that never fully ignites. The story follows the new Wasp, Nadia Van Dyne (as a huge Janet fan I was sad to see this was Hank’s daughter and not related to Janet) as she struggles with her mental health and coming to terms with the fact that she will never meet her biological parents. Nadia was raised in the Red Room, yes that Red Room that gave us Black Widow and also most of the new female teen heroes that Marvel is throwing at us. But Nadia is now living in New York and has started her own female science group called G.I.R.L. an acronym I don’t remember what it stands for but there you have it (I googled it Genius In action Research Labs..I guess G.I.A.R.L didn’t fit the agenda not this author’s fault though). G.I.RL. is here to help fight crime and do science. Nadia has inherited the Pym Particles and a Wasp outfit, but since this isn’t an origin story novel we don’t get to find out any of those detail, they are relying a little on that the person picking this up will be someone who has read the comics. So her and her team of extremely diverse teen female scientists are carrying out important missions for the Pym lab in New Jersey.
One of the weirder parts of this novel is the fact that it doesn’t seem to rely on any of the major or notable heroes that the casual Marvel fan would know, you have Nadia and the G.I.R.L team, who have been doing well in comic form, Janet Van Dyne, who I believe died for a while in the comics and was almost completely written out of the cinematic universe, Bobbi or Mockingbird who was briefly used in the TV Show Agents of SHIELD but isn’t really a prominent feature anywhere and Jarvis. It is kind of a thrown together team but the team dynamic works really well it just feels weird that there isn’t even mention or communication with any of the other teen heroes, isn’t Kamala Kahn also from Jersey? Those little moments of connection could have really helped to keep the plot interesting.
Instead what we got was Nadia dealing with her inner struggle of being a teenage girl who went through crazy torture at the Red Room and now is also going to therapy for her Bipolar disorder. This might be one of the most interesting things about the story, how Nadia’s friends and family watch out for her and don’t shy away from checking on her mental health and being concerned about her becoming manic. This is awesome for a middle grade-teen book. It normalizes Bipolar in a way that isn’t just watching someone crash this is someone who already recognizes that they have it and are living with it. I feel that a lot of times when it comes to books of this age group it is always about the discovery of it and rarely about living with it. The book actually does a lot of things right in areas like this and had it not been a book about a group of superheroes or a hero in particular I would have enjoyed it so much more. But unfortunately this book is about a superhero so you would expect a few fight scenes or something but until the last 20% of the book nothing is really happening.
We are going through Nadia’s journey of self discovery as she tries to reconnect with her dead mother through a series of lists found in a journal, we are watching as she tries to reach out to other tech people to gain information on a new piece of tech she was gift, we watch as she gets mad at the rest of her team for having things to do that aren’t being at her beck and call (mind you she is the only one of the team not in high school). Nadia is just not a compelling character because she just seems so uninterested in anything and manages to somehow do nothing while doing things. After reading the whole book I can tell you that Nadia is a teenager (not sure I think 16), she grew up in Russia, she is Hank Pym’s daughter (I have many questions about this and need to find the comics that explain it) and she likes Sailor Moon. We see her going through a series of lists that her mother made that included things like playing in the rain and watching the Star Wars films and while it is mentioned she is doing these things we don’t see how they affect her. We do find out that she feels they don’t bring her any closer to her mom but that should be a given since she is experiencing these things without her even if they were things her mom wanted to experience with her.
I really wanted to like this book and the last 20% of the book was very compelling and ended too soon but the rest of the book just didn’t give a lot of depth of substance to make me care about any of the characters. I can’t tell you any of their names except Nadia and the ones I already knew or anything really about them. I really wished this book had been better but to be fair most of the Marvel teen books that have been released have fallen short of the goal.
Pros of this book:
Great representation, so much representation
Really interesting villain.
I’m a sucker for Janet Van Dyne and her designing clothes
Cons of this book
Slow
A bit boring
Both too much information and not enough information all at the same time.
1.5 out of 5 stars

Oof, this one just wasn't for me. The main character annoyed the living shit out of me. She was so self centered and hypocritical. I couldn't stand her. I was kind of hoping to get some great girl group moments and we barely got any of it. For the rest I think this book overexplained the most simple and unnececary things. It honestly just felt like the author was talking down to the reader and those moments seemed more aimed at a three year old. It just dragged the story down A LOT. I also think this book relies too much on the fact that the reader knows a lot about Marvel already. That kind of bothered me as this is supposed to be a stand alone book but it needs you to have A LOT of prior knowledge. It especially bothered me as some unnececary sciency stuff was overexplained. The author could have better put in more effort in actually explaining stuff nececary to the plot rather than random things. But yeah, besides all that I do think the story was interesting and I read this pretty quickly so it could have been worse.

A great intro to the character and GIRL for young readers. The writing style is fun, the conflicts (both personal and super villain) fit the age group, and the design of the book is super cute. A bit info-dumpy at times, but that’s hard to avoid with franchise characters with this much history.

I love Nadia Van Dyne. I loved the Jeremy Whitley comics and I was so excited to hear that Sam Maggs was writing a novel about her! The exploration of Nadia's mental illness is delicately handled, and I really appreciate that. I also loved the portrayal of the friendship between the G.I.R.L.s. The story about Nadia wanting connection and the AI makes a lot of sense for her character. Overall, really fun book, though it will mostly be enjoyed by those who have a working understanding of the backstory. Recommended!

Maggs perfectly captures the feeling and character of Nadia Van Dyne that is welcoming to new readers and established fans. Readers who have already read the Unstoppable Wasp comics will find the story true to character and a progression rather than a rehashing of the same things they already know while those new to Nadia will find perfect introductions to the large cast of characters and pertinent background stories.

As someone who read and enjoyed the comics, here are a few of my highlights from Maggs' Unstoppable Wasp:
- The look into online privacy and data mining
- The science facts throughout the book
- The balance between action and the exploration of family, friendship, and health

I love anything Marvel. Great characters, plot, twists, and action. A story with a strong female MC. A really great read.

If we can’t have an Unstoppable Wasp comic book right now, this novel is the next best thing! I was worried about how the transition to prose would go, but Sam Maggs perfectly captures the vibe of the comic and Nadia’s voice here. And this book is so. in. continuity with the original comic series, it’s insane. I’ve read a few Marvel novels, but this is the first I’ve read that tries to establish itself as apart of the comics continuity 100%. I am the target audience for this novel, definitely, but it may be hard for readers new to the Unstoppable Wasp title to get into it. There are references to all sorts of Marvel comics characters and events, and it may be overwhelming— but I absolutely loved it. The plot wasn’t exactly unique or unpredictable, but it had heart. It was so much fun to be back with Nadia and the G.I.R.L.s, and they’re in good hands. I’d love to see the comics revived, but I wouldn’t mind another prose novel as well if it’ll be this high of quality. 5/5 stars.

Comic book novelization is often not well done but this author blew it out of the water. I am so glad to have read this and that it stayed true to the comic!

#TheUnstoppableWasp #NetGalley
A really well developed novel based on The Wasp character. I think it is a great addition to the Marvel universe novels.

Comic book novelizations are tricky, some work while others do not. The Unstoppable Wasp works flawlessly as a novel. It was a total blast! The story was interesting and no cheesy. The characters were wonderful. Full of girl power! Loved this one!

Nadia and her debut YA novel are enjoyable!
This is the first comic book novelization I have read and I am glad I started the genre. A whole novel gives more room to flesh out the complex, mysterious and lovable super hero characters.
Nadia is a cross between Black Widow and Spider-Gwen; she is tough and hard-working yet has a heart of gold.
The Unstoppable Wasp is great because it introduces a strong and smart team of GIRL superheroes.
I especially liked the brief references to Silk and Captain Marvel.